Machine for making ornamental iron work



Feb. 13, 1962 c. GARCIA 3,020,949

MACHINE FOR MAKING ORNAMENTAL IRON WORK Filed Oct. 25, 1959 IN V EN TOR.

CECILIO GARCIA ATTORN EY United States Patent Ofifice 3,020,949 PatentedFeb. 13, 1962 3,020,949 MACHINE FOR MAKING ORNAMENTAL IRON WORK CecilioGarcia, 1455 Silver Ave., San Francisco 24, Calif. Filed Oct. 23, 1959,Ser. No. 848,329 2 Claims. (Cl. 153-40) This invention relates to amachine for bending straps of iron or other iron bars into the form of ascroll for ornamental iron work.

Heretofore, in making this kind of decorative iron work, difficulty hasbeen encountered in getting the curvature at the extreme tip end of thestrap to be such that the scroll shape continues to the very end of thebar. This is particularly true when the bending is done by machines asheretofore constructed, due in part to the fact that a section at theend of the strap of iron must be used for holding the bar in themachine, which has meant that the curvature has begun beyond the endsection which is held in the machine. This leaves a more or lessstraight section at the end of the bar where the scroll curvaturebegins. In some instances, even when the scroll is formed of relativelylight straps of iron, this straight section has been as much as one-halfinch in length. With larger and heavier bars such non-scrollconformingend sections are longer. They lessen materially the decorative eflfectof the scroll as a whole. In an effort to remedy this situation, resortis often had to forging or other hand working of the end section of thebar into the curvature of the desired scroll, after which the bending ofthe remainder of the bar may, if desired, be done by machine. But theworking of the end section into the scroll curvature by hand istimeconsuming and costly.

It is an object of this invention to provide a machine by which the endsection of a bar of iron, substantially all the way out to the very tipend of the bar, may be readily bent into the scroll curvature wherebythe scroll form of the main portion of the iron work continuesthroughout the extreme end section of the iron bar.

It is another object to provide a machine whereby the strap or otheriron bar, after the end has been formed into the desired scroll shape,may be readily and quickly removed from the machine and a new pieceinserted for bending, thus speeding up the production when severalpieces of iron are to be bent.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear fromthe ensuing description and appended claims.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings and is described in detail hereinafter. The particularconstructions shown and described are to be construed as illustrativeonly, and not as limiting the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the machine.

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation view of the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings, a rotatable shaft 10, adapted to be rotatablymounted in any suitable bearing mechanism, not shown, has fixed to oneend thereof, by welding or other suitable means, in a planeperpendicular to said shaft, a plate 11, preferably, though notnecessarily, of circular disc-like form, the said plate 11 being therebyadapted to turn with the said shaft, as the latter is rotated. Ifdesired, the end of the shaft to which the plate 11 is secured may be ofenlarged cross section, as shown in FIGURE 1. Secured to the forward orouter face of plate 11, by any suitable means such as by welding, andextending forwardly and axially therefrom so as to be rotatable aboutthe extended axis of shaft 10, is a scroll-forming member 12 whoseradially outermost surface 13, when said member 12 is seen in end viewas in FIGURE 2, or as would be seen in any sectional view taken in aplane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said member, is in theform of a scroll. This scroll-shaped surface begins at line 14, which isat or near the said axis of rotation, and extends outwardly and spirallyabout said axis to a line which is parallel to said axis and inproximity to a position diametrically opposite the starting point ofsaid scroll. Thus the radially outermost surface 13 of member 12 extendsas a scroll from a line which lies approximate the axis of rotation ofsaid member and which constitutes the radially innermost axiallyextending edge 14 of said scroll surface, to a line 15 which constitutesits outermost axially extending edge, also parallel to said axis ofrotation, which lies approximately diametrically opposite the line orbeginning edge 14 of the scroll surface of member 12. The length of themember 12 in an axial direction from the plate 11 is such that the edge14 thereof is equal to or somewhat in excess of the width of the wideststraps of iron to be bent in the machine. The radially innermost surface16 of the scroll-forming member 12 need not be scrollshaped, as in thecase of the radially outermost surface 13, and may be of any convenientform, desirably that which gives an increasing thickness to the member12 as it extends outwardly from the starting edge 14.

A pin 17 is pivotally mounted in the plate 11 and extends axiallyforward or outwardly from said plate so as to pivot about an axisparallel to the axis of rotation of said plate. Secured to and carriedby said pin is a block 18 provided with a rectangular-shaped boreextending therethrough in a direction at a right angle to the axis ofsaid pin. In this bore there is slidably fitted a locking blade 19 whichtapers to a dull knife edge at its lower or radially outermost (withrespect to the axis of pin 17) end. The pin 17 is so positioned in theplate 11 that the knife edge of locking blade 19 may be extendeddownwardly to a position toward the starting edge 14 of the scrollsurface 13 and which is removed from said starting edge by a distanceequal to or slightly less than the thickness of the iron bar 21, the endof which is inserted in the machine between the starting edge 14 of thescroll and the said knife edge. Set screws 20 are provided in the block18 for securing the locking blade 19 in various positions as said memberis adjusted inwardly toward or outwardly from the edge 14 of thescroll-shaped surface 13 in accordance with different thicknesses ofiron bar 21 which is inserted into the machine. If desired, the end ofthe strap iron 21 may be tapered to enhance the ornamentation of theiron work when the strap is bent into its final scroll shape.

A set screw 22 is provided in the member 12 (operable at the surface ofsaid member) and is adjustable to different distances from the side ofthe locking blade 19 so as to act as a stop for the swing of the saidlooking blade toward the scroll-forming member 12 when the end of thestrap iron piece 21 is inserted into the machine against the saidlocking blade.

A stop 23 is secured to the outer or forward face of plate 11 and is sopositioned as to stop the outward movement of the locking blade 19,after the knife edge thereof has become secure against the face of thestrap iron 21, upon any outward pulling movement that may be exertedupon the said strap iron bar 21.

In the operation of the machine the locking blade 19 is adjusted, bymeans of set screws 20, so that when it is pivoted to a position whereinits knife edge will be directly above or in close proximity to thestarting edge 14 of the scroll-forming member 12, the space between saidstarting edge of the scroll and the said knife edge is substantiallyequal to the thickness of the iron bar 21 at a point only a slightdistance from the tapered end of said bar. This distance may varydepending upon how nearly the operator desires that the bend in the ironat the extreme tip end of the bar shall conform to the desired scrollcurvature. The screw 22 is also adjusted so that the locking blade 19will be stopped against it when the blade has been pivoted to bring itsknife edge inwardly a slight distance from the said starting edge 14 ofthe scroll-forming member 12. The end of the bar 21 is placed on thestarting edge 14 of the scrollforming member 12 and moved inwardly untilthe knife edge of the locking blade 19 is in contact with the uppersurface of the tapered portion of said bar. The bar is then pulledoutwardly, and, if desired, the body portion of the bar issimultaneously moved slightly downward so as to fulcrum the bar aboutthe said starting edge 14. This brings the locking blade 19 into contactwith stop 23 to stop its being pivoted outwardly any further, whereuponthe knife edge of said blade bites into the iron bar sufficiently tohold the bar from slipping back out of the machine. Upon rotation of theshaft in appropriate direction the bar while still being held by theoperator; is bent around the scroll-forming member 12, the relativeposition of the bar 21 with respect to the scrollforming member whenthis has taken place being indicated by the dotted line position 24 ofthe said bar as shown in FIGURE 2. The bar, thus bent into a scrollform, is easily and readily removed from the machine by pivoting thelocking blade 19 back to its starting position to release its bite orhold upon the iron bar 21, and then moving the bent bar in an axiallyoutward direction with reference to the disc plate 11, i.e., simply byslipping the bent bar off over the outer end of the scroll-formingmember 12. If desired, the end section of iron bar 21 may be heatedbefore being inserted into the machine, to facilitate the bending.

My invention thus provides a machine for forming the entire end sectionof a strap of iron or other iron bar into the curvature of the scroll towhich the main body of the bar is to be conformed, thereby eliminatingthe necessity for having a section at the end of the bar remain more orless straight or otherwise in non-conformity to the scroll curvatureinto which the main part of the bar is to be formed, as has been thepractice with prior scroll-forming machines. My invention thus does awaywith the necessity of the slow and laborious hand working the endsection of the bar in order to form it into the desired scrollcurvature, thereby greatly speeding up production, especially when anumber of iron bars is to be processed.

In the foregoing description, and in the appended claims, such terms asaxially and in an axial direction mean parallel to the axis in question,such as the axis of shaft 10, and not coincident, i.e,, coaxiallytherewith.

While I have illustrated and described my invention in detail, it isunderstood that various modifications may be made therein by thoseskilled in the alt without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as described in the appending claims.

I claim:

1. A device for use in bending the end of a metal bar into a scrollform, comprising: a rotatable shaft; a plate secured to the end of saidshaft in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said shaft; ascroll-forming member secured to the outer face of said plate andextending axially therefrom; said member having its radially outermostsurface scroll-shaped; said scroll-shaped surface beginning in a linewhich is parallel to and lies in close proximity to the axis of rotationof said plate; a first block, pivotally mounted on said plate to swingon an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said plate; a lockingblade slidably mounted to said block to extend therefrom to saidbeginning surface of said scroll-shaped member; said locking bladeterminating in a knife edge which is parallel to the said line in whichsaid beginning surface lies; means associated with said block to securesaid locking blade in selectively fixed positions with reference theretoto provide spaces of selective widths between said knife edge and saidbeginning surface of said scrollshaped member to permit said knife edgeto bite into the upper surface near the end of a metal bar that isinserted endwise between said knife edge and said beginning surface ofsaid scroll-shaped member; and a second block, secured to the outer faceof said plate and extending outwardly therefrom; said second block beingpositioned in the path in which said locking blade swings outwardly andat a point to block the outward swing of said blade when said blade hasbitten into said metal bar and the said bar is pulled outwardly from itssaid inserted position.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 with the addition of a set screw positionedthrough said scroll-forming member with its inner end protruding towardsaid locking blade; said screw being of length such that it can be setto stop the inward swing of said locking blade at selected positionswhen said blade is pushed inwardly upon the said insertion of said metalbar into the device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 99,638Coleman Feb. 8, 1870 240,288 Wagner Apr. 19, 1881 287,448 Logan Oct. 30,1883 533,513 Weed Feb. 5, 1895 560,239 Stewart May 19, 1896 805,231Pembroke Nov. 21, 1905 2,649,887 Lehman Aug. 25, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS709,091 France Aug. 3, 1931

